Multi-surface IC packaging structures

ABSTRACT

An IC package having multiple surfaces for interconnection with interconnection elements making connections from the IC chip to the I/O terminations of the package assembly which reside on more than one of its surfaces and which make interconnections to other devices or assemblies that are spatially separated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/778,972, filed May 12, 2010, which is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/353,564 filed Feb. 13, 2006, which is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/947,686, filed Sep. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,061,096, which claims benefit of priority of U.S. provisional Application No. 60/506,322, filed Sep. 24, 2003. The disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of packaging of semiconductor integrated circuits.

BACKGROUND

Current integrated circuit (IC) chip packaging technologies commonly rely on either a lead frame, interposer or miniature interconnection substrate to serve as an interconnection base for redistributing the I/O (input/output terminals) of the IC to a more practical and useful lead spacing or pitch between I/O terminals for next level assembly. Interconnection between the IC or die is normally accomplished using either wire bonding or flip chip technology. The I/O terminals on the finished IC package are located either on the sides of or beneath the chip, however in some special cases, such as for stacking memory ICs to increase memory density, the terminals may be provided with a common land that can be accessed from both top and bottom. The lead frames, interposers and miniature interconnection substrates that provide the I/O pitch translation, obviously have associated with them both materials and manufacturing cost.

Moreover, for some types of I/O pitch translation devices, such as miniature interconnection substrates there is an associated cost for testing to assure that all connections are complete and that there are no electrical shorts.

Because each IC chip design is unique, the interconnection substrate used in manufacture of the final package is often also unique to the chip and requires the creation of a package design with each interconnection requiring its own circuit path on the substrate. This is especially true for higher I/O count ICs. Thus time, materials and processes used to create IC packages while providing benefit also add to cost and delay in terms of manufacturing lead time which can limit opportunity associated with getting a product to market early. Of course in the best case, any interconnection would be made directly to the IC termination land and this can be and often is the case for chips having few I/O terminations. However, as I/O counts rise, this becomes a problem, thus a circuit substrate is commonly used to redistribute the I/O and the terminations to the chip are made locally. In addition because of the limits of current manufacturing practices, the same interconnection materials and process steps which add cost to the overall structure also typically limit both its performance and abrogate its versatility. Performance limits are due to the electrical parasitics associated with the changes in circuit materials, transitions through and around electrical features such as vias the like which in turn limit the design versatility. As a result of these limitations of current IC package design and manufacturing practices thus leave room and opportunity for improvements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 provides an example of prior art.

FIG. 2 provides a further example of prior art.

FIG. 3 illustrates a prospective arrangement of the interconnections for an embodiment of the invention which illustrates how point to point interconnections can be made in three dimensional space.

FIG. 4 A-D shows in cross section various embodiments of an IC package constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention.

FIG. 5 provides representative process steps for creating one embodiment of the package.

FIG. 6 shows how packages created using the concepts of the invention can potentially be interconnected taking advantage of all of the surfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description and in the accompanying drawings, specific terminology and drawing symbols are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In some instances, the terminology and symbols may imply specific details that are not required to practice the invention. Disclosed herein is a method for making direct path, three dimensional interconnections from the surface of and integrated circuit chip to locations away from the chip face and body. The finished package structure has terminations that are accessible from all of its surfaces and edges. For example, in the case of a hexahedron (i.e., a cubic or rectangular box) the number of regular surfaces available would be six (6) while in the case of a hemisphere or a flatted structure with rounded edges, the number of surfaces available would be two (2), one of which would be planar and the other a continuous surface with terminations at different points across its surface. A package created using the concepts of invention can be created with the terminations regularly spaced to a standard pitch or they can be constructed so as to provide a non-standard, random or pseudo-random interconnection pattern across the surface, provided that no space violations are allowed to occur. Such structures would allow the user of the invention to create individual parts or even individual, piece-specific, interconnection terminations to defeat attempted use in unauthorized products or applications. Such capability could be of great benefit in the creation of secure electronics hardware. In such cases, of course, the mating interconnection pattern would then be specifically created to make the required connections.

In practicing the invention, any three dimensional shape having multiple surfaces is a potential structure that will allow for space transformation of the terminals on the IC chip to locations distant in two dimensional (i.e. in the same plane) or three dimensional space relative to the IC chip. The distal terminations can then be used for making interconnection to either an electronic interconnection substrate or other electronic-assembly elements including other components, connectors and cables. The package is constructed with external terminations located on two or more surfaces including top, bottom and one or more edges (i.e. terminations can to be made from any appropriate surface, such as from the bottom, from the top or from all sides or any surfaces presented).

The structure will also provide improved thermal management because of the direct path, high thermal conductivity wires used in concert with the encapsulant employed. In certain embodiments the structure can also be manufactured with embedded ESD protection in the package allowing it to be moved off the chip which can also help to reduce the size of the IC.

There are envisioned numerous potential methods and embodiments for creating the structures of this invention, the following figures are descriptive of a few such and instructive of the methods that can be used in their manufacture. However, the scope of the invention, including potential embodiments of the invention, methods used for their construction relative to the methods herewith disclosed and potential interconnection structures created by using the invention to interconnect spatially separated electronic components are not the limited by to figures provided. The concepts can be applied to signals transmitted in a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum and thus conductors may be of any suitable material and construction including single wire, coaxial wires, twin axial wires or optical fibers.

IC chips are commonly mounted to interconnection substrates which have circuitry on them for redistributing the terminations to a usable pitch for making interconnections to other devices or higher level interconnection substrates. In some cases, these substrates are created in a manner that allows the use of the top of a package to interconnect directly to other IC packages. This method has been used in the electronics industry to increase the function or quantity of IC chips in a reduced volume. FIG. 1 is shows an example of prior art for stacking IC packages using interconnection substrates directly one atop another. In the figure an IC chip (100) is mounted on an interconnection substrate (101) having traces (103) to which the chip is connected by wires (102) and then encapsulated to protect the wires and chips using a suitable encapsulant (105). The chip package has terminations that provide access top and bottom to a common conductor (103) allowing packaged devices having common termination structures to be stacked and interconnected by means of solder balls (104). This technique is common for stacking of memory ICs.

FIG. 2 provides a further example of prior art, that of a so called “fold over” package. Again a first interconnection substrate or circuitized package substrate is used (201 a) with the IC chip of the lower package (200 a) interconnected such as by wires (202). The package substrate is provided with an extra length of circuitry and has a termination pattern on it designed in a manner that the I/O of the extra length can be interconnected to a second IC (200 b) within a second package on a second interconnection substrate (201 b). The circuit trace providing an interconnection path (203 a) is folded and bonded to the top of the encapsulant (205) of the first chip package using a suitable adhesive (206). The second chip package can then be mounted and interconnected by solder ball connections (204) to chip terminal connection on the second chip package (203 b) This technique is commonly used for interconnecting chips having different functions directly atop one another. As an example such a structure could use an SRAM chip and a Flash memory chip.

In all known cases of prior art, only top and bottom surfaces are available for interconnection and a pre-circuitized substrate or a lead-frame is required for redistributing the I/O terminations. This invention enables interconnections to exist anywhere on the surface of a multidimensional or multi-surface IC package

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate respectively top and side views of a prospective arrangement of the interconnections for an embodiment of the invention. In the graphic, the terminations on the IC chip are shown as an array to facilitate understanding and comprehension of the basic structure of invention, however the IC terminations residing only at the periphery of the IC chip are equally well adaptable for use in constructing the invention.

The illustration in FIG. 3A shows from the top view, how point to point interconnections can be made from an IC chip to terminations located on all surfaces of a three dimensional IC package. In the FIG. 3A the IC chip (300) is placed on a substrate (301). The terminals on the chip (306) are interconnected by wires (305 a-305 c) and pass through locations that ring the IC and which will become terminations on the finished package (308 a-308 c).

FIG. 3B provides a side view of the structure as it would be constructed in a partially completed condition. In the illustration are shown the bond wires (305 a-305 d), the chip (300) having I/O terminals (306) is bonded to the substrate (301) by means of a die attach (302). Holes in the substrate material (303) provide access to the terminal (308 d).

This view clarifies the relative location of the wires, showing how the wires (305 a-305 c) do not interfere with each other while making direct connection between I/O locations on the chip to the terminals location of interest to each I/O terminal to terminal locations (308 a-308 c) for the finished package. FIG. 3B also better shows how wire bond interconnection (305 d) is made from the chip to terminals (308 d) on the substrate (301) that reside on the obverse side of what will be the finished package. FIG. 3B also illustrates in cross section, the ring mandrels (307 a-307 c) to which the wires are bonded. The ring mandrels are placed on a fixture (not shown) above the chip package assembly station. In the assembly process first or bottom most ring (307 a) would be positioned and the first wire bonds are made from the I/O terminals on the chip to locations such that the wire (305 a) passes through a location (308 a) that will represent the terminal location on the finished package and is bonded to the ring mandrel. The process is repeated until all of the wires on the first ring are completed. A second ring (307 b) having a smaller internal dimension is then positioned and a wire (305 b) is bonded first to the chip and routed to pass through a location (308 b) that will represent the terminal location on the finished package and is then bonded to the ring mandrel. The process is repeated until all of the wires on the second ring are completed. A third (or nth) ring (307 c) having a smaller internal dimension than either ring 307 a or ring 307 b is then positioned and a wire (305 c) is bonded first to the chip and routed to pass through a location (308 c) that will represent the terminal location on the finished package and is then bonded to the ring mandrel. The process is repeated until all of the wires on the third (or nth) ring are completed. The number of rings needed depends on the number of I/O and their pitch.

FIG. 4A-D shows in cross section, representative embodiments of IC packages constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention. In FIG. 4A an IC chip (400) is bonded to a heat spreader (401) by means of a thermally conductive die attach adhesive (402). Wires (403 a-403 c) are bonded from terminals on the chip to metal leads (404 a-404 c) which egress from the package at different levels and are then shaped so as to have all leads connected to a planar substrate. The assembly is then covered over selected areas with an encapsulant (408)

FIG. 4B shows an embodiment of the invention again having a die (400) attached to a heat spreader (401) using a thermally conductive die attach material. Bond wires (403 a-403 c) are connected from the chip to contacts (409 a-409 c). The contacts which are embedded with the wires in an encapsulant (408) are stair stepped to allow each of the contacts egress the package one atop another without shorting to one another. This is accomplished by making a series of cuts in the material to different depths (405 a-405 d) to expose the contacts

In FIG. 4C is shown another embodiment of the invention wherein a chip (400) is bonded by means of a die attach adhesive (402) to a substrate (406) having terminals (404 d) that can be wire bonded to directly. The subassembly is bonded to heat spreader (401) by means of a suitable adhesive (not shown). The heat spreader has holes within it (407) to permit access to terminations (404 d) which reside on the obverse surface of the package. These terminals are connected to the chip by wires (403 d). Other terminals on the chip are connected to other terminals on the package (410 a, 410 b and 411 a) by means of bond wires (403 a-403 c). Also in the example. Terminal 411 a egresses from the package on the side of the package while terminals 410 a and 410 b reside on the primary I/O terminal side of the IC package. An encapsulant (408) protects the wires and chip and fixes the terminal in place.

In FIG. 4D is shown an embodiment of the invention wherein a chip (400) is bonded by means of a die attach adhesive (402) to a substrate (406) having terminals (404 d) that can be wire bonded to directly. Obverse surface terminals (404 d) are connected to the chip by wires (403 d). Other terminals on the chip are connected to other terminals on the package (410 a, 410 b and 411 a) by means of bond wires (403 a-403 c) Also in the example, terminal 411 a egresses from the package on the side of the package while terminals 410 a and 410 b reside on the primary I/O terminal side of the IC package. An encapsulant (408) protects the wires and chip and fixes the terminal in place.

In FIG. 4E is shown an embodiment of the invention wherein an IC chip (400) is bonded by means of a die attach adhesive (402) to a substrate (406) and a second IC chip (400 a) is attached to the surface of chip 400 using another layer of die attach adhesive. The assembly having terminals (404 d) that can be wire bonded to directly to either chip. The obverse surface terminals (404 d) are connected to the chip by wires (403 d). Other terminals on the first chip (400) are shown connected to other terminals on the package (411 a) by means of bond wires (403 a) and terminal 411 a egresses from the package on the side of the package. In the figure, the second IC chip (400 a) is also interconnected to terminals on the package by wires (403 e and 403 f). The terminals, 410 e and 410 f, reside on the primary I/O terminal side of the IC package. An encapsulant (408) protects the wires and chip and fixes the terminal in place.

FIG. 5A-J provides a prospective process for creating one embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 5A an IC chip (500) is attached to a substrate (501) which has contact terminals (503) for wire bonding but which are accessible from bottom through holes in the material. The subassembly is placed in a carrier (502) having spaced slots and the IC is electrically connected to the lower series of terminals using bonding wires (504 a).

In FIG. 5B a leadframe (506) having spaced contacts, (shown in a top view in 506′) is fitted to the carrier and second series of wire bonds (504 b) are made from the chip to the leadframe.

In FIG. 5C a third series of wire bonds (504 c) are made from the IC chip to programmed locations on the mandrel (507). The bonding mandrel (shown in top view in 507′) has an opening in it. The opening size is dependent on the design and can be greater than, equal to or smaller than the mandrel is held in an alignment fixture (the fixture is not shown) above the carrier and the wire bond connections from the IC chip are made to the surface of the mandrel.

In FIG. 5D a fourth (or nth) series of wire bonds (504 d) are made from the IC chip to programmed locations on the mandrel (508). The bonding mandrel (shown in top view in 508′) has an opening in it. The opening size is dependent on the design but is generally smaller that the mandrel below it (507). The mandrel is fixtured (the fixturing is not shown) above the carrier and the wire bond connections from the IC chip are made to the mandrel.

In FIG. 5E the assembly carrier is filled with an encapsulant (509) to secure the wires in their locations and to protect the assembled IC.

In FIG. 5F the wires on the upper surface (504 c and 504 d) are trimmed to the approximately the level of the surface using an appropriate means and the mandrels are removed.

In FIG. 5G an optional encapsulant etching step is used to clean and expose the bond wire ends (504 c and 540 d).

In FIG. 5H the top surface of the carrier is processed so as to plate the surface with a suitable metal such as copper (510). The metal surrounds and encapsulates the wire ends.

In FIG. 5I is shown a contact pattern imaging step with an etch resist to define the terminal locations (511).

In FIG. 5J the etching step has removed the excess copper from the face of the package and the resist is stripped exposing the remaining metal contact terminals (512) which are connected directly to the wires. The side terminals of the leadframe are trimmed to length (513) and the structure is removed from the carrier providing access to the bottom terminals (503).

If the carrier is made from an insulating material, it need not be removed. Access to the terminals (503) can be made by a suitable means (such as laser drilling) either before or after processing.

FIG. 6 illustrates how the invention can be employed in the manufacture of an electronic assembly. In the figure an interconnection substrate such as a PCB (600) having circuits traces (601) interconnected to one another by means of plated through holes (602) has IC packages of the type of the invention (603 a-603 c) mounted on and interconnected to the interconnection substrate by a suitable means such as solder balls (604). A first cable (605 a) as a controlled impedance cable to improve signal integrity and using a suitable means of interconnection such as connectors or lapped joints, can provide lateral direct connection between adjacent packages at a mid level. A second cable (605 b) connected by means of solder balls can provide upper surface connections between adjacent or distant IC packages. A third (or nth) cable (605 c) can provide lateral connection between distal IC packages.

While not illustrated, it is also possible to plate the bond wires with a high modulus material to strengthen the leads so that they can be interconnected directly to a next level interconnection substrate. The finished structure would resemble the encapsulated embodiments of the invention with the encapsulation removed and the stiffness of the wires would cause them to hold their relative position and reduce or eliminate the potential for shorting of the leads.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated circuit (IC) package assembly for space transforming input/output (I/O) terminals from locations on at least one IC chip within the IC package assembly to I/O terminal locations distal from the IC chip comprising: a plurality of chip terminals on an IC chip which is encapsulated in an IC package; a plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors which are attached to respective ones of the plurality of chip terminals and distend directly from the IC chip to locations that serve as I/O terminals for the IC package, wherein the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors are in a one-to-one relationship with the plurality of chip terminals; and an insulation material surrounding, supporting, insulating and separating the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors, wherein the insulation material forms multiple stair-step levels on an exterior surface of the IC package, wherein the I/O terminals for the IC package are on the multiple stair-step levels of the IC package.
 2. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where at least one of the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors comprises a wire.
 3. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where at least one of the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors go downward from the IC chip.
 4. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where at least one of the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors go upward from the IC chip.
 5. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors comprise gold wires.
 6. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors comprise aluminum wires.
 7. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors comprise copper wires.
 8. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors comprise coaxial wires.
 9. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where the plurality of discrete interconnecting conductors are over plated with a high modulus plating.
 10. The IC package assembly of claim 1 where the I/O terminals are disposed on more than one surface of the IC package.
 11. The IC package assembly of claim 1, wherein the I/O terminals for the IC package provide respective exposed contacts that each face away from the IC package in the same direction.
 12. An integrated circuit (IC) package comprising: an IC chip which is encapsulated in the IC package; a plurality of chip terminals on the IC chip; a plurality of interconnecting conductors which are attached to respective ones of the plurality of chip terminals and distend directly from the IC chip to locations that serve as input/output (I/O) terminals for the IC package and are distal from the IC chip, wherein the plurality of chip terminals are not shared by the plurality of interconnecting conductors; and an insulation layer surrounding, supporting, insulating and separating the plurality of interconnecting conductors, the insulation layer forming multiple stair-step levels on an exterior surface of the IC package, wherein the I/O terminals for the IC package are on the multiple stair-step levels of the IC package.
 13. The IC package of claim 12, wherein the I/O terminals for the IC package provide respective exposed contacts that each face away from the IC package in the same direction. 